Ontario Chapter Newsletter

Transcription

1 Ontario Chapter Newsletter Winter 2018 Message From The President Hello Everyone! I hope you are all having a great start to 2018! Spring is around the corner and we are gearing up for the annual Day of Percussion on Sunday, April 8 th at Western University. We have a number of excellent clinicians and performers lined up that you will not want to miss! Thank you to Dr. Jill Ball for all of her dedication as a host this year. The OPAS Solo Competition results have just been announced! The High School Division Winner is Andrew Kerr (Grade 12, Martingrove Collegiate Institute). Honourable Mention goes to Phoebe Chou (Grade 11, Earl Haig Secondary School) and Johnathon Birch (Grade 11, Etobicoke School of the Arts). The Undergraduate Division did not have any applicants. Andrew Kerr will be featured on his winning solo, Prism by Keiko Abe, at the Day of Percussion. He will also receive a free cymbal and a feature in this newsletter. All of the applicants received a 1-Year PAS Membership (International Pass). Thank you to the adjudicators of the competition: Jay Boehmer, Jill Ball, and Michael Schutz. I hope to see all of you on April 8 th for an exciting and educational day to reconnect with our many percussion friends, colleagues, and supporters! Kind Regards, Dr. Michelle Colton University of Toronto, Percussion Preparatory Department Director Royal Conservatory of Music, Percussion and Steel Pan Instructor Toronto District School Board, Itinerant Steel Pan and Band Instructor Sabian/PASIC Scholarship by Dr. Nicholas Papador The 2018 SABIAN/PASIC Scholarship is your opportunity to win a trip of a lifetime to the Percussive Arts Society International Convention (PASIC). There you will see the latest in percussion products, experience performances by great players from around the world, meet new friends and make new contacts. To be eligible, an applicant must be a Canadian, fulltime university undergraduate (Percussion Major). The scholarship recipient will receive transportation to the convention city, four nights hotel accommodation, PASIC Registration, PASIC souvenir T-Shirt and, a one year PAS Membership. Scholarship will not exceed $1,500 CDN. To learn more about the upcoming PAS International Convention, visit: Application period closes May 15th, If you have questions regarding eligibility or if you have issues with the application form, please contact PasicScholarship@sabian.com Click on this link to begin the application process: 1

2 Day of Percussion 2018 by Dr. Jill Ball The 2018 OPAS Day of Percussion will be held on the campus of Western University in London, Ontario on Sunday, April 8, hosted by Dr. Jill Ball. Western has been the site of the Day of Percussion many times and we are excited to share its new Music Building facilities with a percussion suite which includes more than 2400 square feet of teaching studios, rehearsal rooms, five large dedicated practice rooms and storage space. The concert and much of the day s activities will be held in the Paul Davenport Theatre. During registration and lunch there will be a number of vintage instruments on display in the Percussion Room in the Music Building. The DOP morning clinician lineup features Western Alums and veteran DOP clinicians DUO Percussion, Dave Robilliard and Brennan Connolly. Their presentation is entitled: Turning Your Practice into A Practice. Rick Lazar, Toronto based multi-faceted performer, educator, and recording artist will be giving the second morning clinic focusing on Middle Eastern instruments and rhythms. Rick is well known for the Samba Squad and the Montuno Police. The afternoon will kick off with Western Alums Rob Larose and Greg Mainprize facilitating the Day s participants in a Hands-On Samba interactive workshop. Through generous sponsorship by Yamaha Canada, the second afternoon Drumset clinician is Toronto based drummer, composer, producer, educator, and recording artist Larnell Lewis. The day will conclude with a gala concert featuring: featuring the OPAS Solo competition winner, guest clinicians, Western Alumni and the Western University Percussion Ensemble. The tentative schedule is: 9:15 Registration 9:30 Registration/ OPAS Meeting 10:00 Duo Percussion: Turning Your Practice Into A Practice 11:15 Rick Lazar Middle Eastern Clinic 12:15 Lunch 1:00 Hands on Samba Session with Rob Larose & Greg Mainprize 2:00 Larnell Lewis Drumset Clinic 3:30 Concert featuring the OPAS Solo competition winner (Andrew Kerr), Western Alumni and the University Percussion Ensemble Solo Competition Winner 2018 Born in Toronto, Andrew Kerr began playing percussion at the age of 12 with his school music program. Although not his first instrument, he quickly developed a passion for the many instruments of the percussion world. To date, Andrew has performed with the National Youth Orchestra of Canada, Toronto Symphony Youth Orchestra, Etobicoke Philharmonic Orchestra, Etobicoke Youth Band, and various other ensembles in and around Toronto. He has also spent time working with other young musicians as a counsellor at Toronto Summer Music Camp. Andrew is currently involved with the Music Program at his high school and hopes to pursue an undergraduate degree in percussion performance next year. In his spare time, he enjoys reading, canoeing, and writing about himself in the third person. Andrew is thrilled to be performing at the 2018 OPAS Day of Percussion! 2

3 60! By Jay Boehmer Beverley Johnston celebrated her 60 th birthday with a concert at the University of Toronto on January 11 in Walter Hall. Bev proclaimed from the stage that 60 is the new 40 and I am inclined to agree. She always chooses interesting pieces and never disappoints with her performance. The concert opened with two pieces on marimba featuring Mark Djokic on violin. (Mr. Coffee and the world premiere of Night Sky by Christos Hatzis.) The 3 rd piece was Everybody Talk About Freedom composed by Julie Spencer. Julie wrote this piece for Bev with the element of spoken word to be a part of the composition. Much to Bev s surprise, Julie wrote an entire piece for rap and marimba. This is a tricky piece to tackle and Bev seems to be fearless. Next in the program was a suite for marimba called The Spirit and the Dust inspired by text by famous poets. The final piece in the concert was KAMI composed by Alice Ping Yee Ho. Johnston was featured again on marimba and was joined by Rich Burrows, Jamie Drake and Dan Morphy on various percussion instruments. It was a great afternoon of music. Congratulations Bev! Beverley Johnston (Left) & Julie Spencer (Archival Photo, 2014) OPAS Board of Directors President Michelle Colton (Toronto) michellebethcolton@gmail.com Vice-President, Newsletter Editor Jay Boehmer (Mississauga) jay@jayboehmerjazz.com Secretary Michael Wood (Stratford) percwood@orc.ca Treasurer Mark Hamon (London) thehamons@rogers.com Web Master Zoltan Harsanyi Antliff (Toronto) zantliff@gmail.com Member-at-Large Michael Schutz (Toronto) schutz@mcmaster.ca Student Representative Lian McMillan (Toronto) lianmcmillan@gmail.com Past-President Nick Papador (Windsor) papador@uwindsor.ca 3

4 Day of Percussion 2018 Biographies Duo Percussion: Turning Your Practice Into A Practice Founded by Brennan Connolly and Dave Robilliard, Duo Percussion is dedicated to expanding the percussion duo repertoire and attracting new audiences by performing diverse and entertaining programs of classical and contemporary percussion music. Duo Percussion has performed in concert halls and community venues both in Canada and internationally. Recent appearances include the Elora Festival, Performing Arts Lakefield, Cornwall Concert Series, Guelph Chamber Choir, Wolf Performance Hall in London, Imperial Theatre in Sarnia, and Bach Music Festival of Canada. They recently completed a tour to Oklahoma City where they appeared as guest artists with the Canterbury Choral Society. Recognized for their educational work, Duo Percussion has performed and given workshops for numerous schools and community groups across Ontario. Now frequently engaged by schools throughout the province, Duo has performed and presented workshops at the Ontario Music Educator s Conference, MusicFest Canada, Western University and the University of Guelph. Rick Lazar: Middle Eastern Drumming Clinic Rick was voted Percussionist of the Year five times by Jazz Report magazine and has produced and released four CDs with his group Montuno Police: Bang, Touch, The Call and Nomads. Rick has toured/recorded with such artists as Bruce Cockburn, Barry White, Paul Shaffer and is a regular collaborator with Loreena McKennitt on her recordings and tours. Rick is the creator and artistic director of Samba Squad and has written, produced and released two CDs with this group: Samba Squad and Batuque. He is also an educator at York University (Escola De Samba and Cuban Music Courses). Lazar has also developed workshop techniques which are being used in the Samba Kidz and Samba Teens programs. Rick s knowledge of world drums and passion makes him a unique percussionist who is the first call for a diverse array of artists. 4

5 Larnell Lewis: Drumset Clinic Toronto native Larnell Lewis is a musician, composer, producer, educator and clinician. One of Canada s most well-known and in-demand drummers, Lewis has garnered international status with his most recent works with the three-time Grammy Award winning band, Snarky Puppy. He is a part-time music professor at Humber College, has been featured on the cover of Modern Drummer (September 2016), and has performed with such artists as Fred Hammond, Lalah Hathaway, Lisa Fischer, and Laila Biali. During his time at Humber College, Larnell was the 2004 recipient of the Oscar Peterson Award for Outstanding Achievement in Music, the highest award given by the institution. Although his roots lay in gospel music, Larnell is known for his ability to accurately execute a variety of musical styles. As a result, over the last few years, he has been called upon to perform with a wide range of artists/musicians such as Fred Hammond, Michael Brecker (Verve Records), Dave Leibman, Steve Gadd, Dave Holland (LoJac Music), Tim Ries (Rolling Stones), Salome Bey, Denny Christianson (Justin Time Records, and Head of the Humber College Music Program), Phil Dwyer, Sharon Riley and Faith Chorale, Glenn Lewis, Jully Black, Matt Dusk, Andrew Craig, Laila Biali, Rinsethealgorithm, Eddie Bullen and many others. Hands on Samba Session with Rob Larose & Greg Mainprize Rob Larose studied classical percussion at the University of Western Ontario, jazz drumming with Roger Flock at Humber College, and Latin percussion with Memo Acevado and Rick Lazar in Toronto. For over 25 years Rob has been a familiar fixture around London performing with numerous groups including Orchestra London, The Karen Schuuessler Singers, Pro Musica, The Antler River Project, salsa band Herencia Latina, The Fanshawe Concert Players Orchestra, Celtic Shift, The Joe Edmonds Group, and numerous others. Most recently Rob has been kept busy as part of the worldpop ensemble, Enchante and has been touring throughout Canada and the US with the Celtic fusion group Rant Maggie Rant. As an educator Rob has been guest clinician for the Ontario Music Educators Association, The Toronto District School board and an adjudicator for jazz and percussion performances in Canada and the U.S. Rob was faculty member of the National Music Camp of Canada from and has written a book on Latin Percussion techniques. 5

6 Greg Mainprize is the Head of the Music Department at Strathroy District Collegiate Institute. As a performer, he is a founding member of The London Percussion Trio and has freelanced in the London area with several groups including Orchestra London, the Concert Players Orchestra, the London Jazz Orchestra, The Voices of Broadway, The Broadway Singers, the Karen Schuessler Singers, The Denise Pelley Group and any jazz combo he can find. He has played for productions at the Grand Theatre, the Huron Country Playhouse, the Palace Theatre, and Fanfares at the Stratford Festival. In the summer, Greg teaches percussion at the High School Division of the National Music Camp of Canada. 6